Fire On Fire
by hade5
Summary: Five/OC — There's a reason he named the mannequin Delores.
1. Part I

**Title**: Fire On Fire

**Pairing**: Five/OC

**Summary**: There's a reason he named the mannequin Delores.

**A/N**: Three-shot like the last one!

* * *

**Fire On Fire**

**※**

_Then I saw you and I knew_

_Maybe it's 'cause I got a little bit older_

_Maybe it's all that I've been through_

_I'd like to think it's how you lean on my shoulder_

**※**

* * *

**Part I**

She's nine when her father first takes a job working for Reginald Hargreeves, the reclusive billionaire.

Her mother had passed away not long ago and seeing as how she'd been the breadwinner in the family, her father had been forced to take on multiple odd jobs just to make ends meet. She doesn't mind, though. Because if not for the struggles she and her father had gone through, she wouldn't have met _him._

She's not exactly sure what job her father's interviewing for, but she knows one thing for sure. This is the _biggest_ house she's ever seen.

Sitting in the lobby on the most comfortable armchair she's ever been in, she swings her legs happily as she waits.

"Who are you?"

She whirls around to see a dark-haired boy standing behind her, arms folded. He's wearing what looks to be a school uniform, complete with pressed shorts and black knee-high socks.

She smiles widely. "Hi! I'm Delores. What's your name?"

He merely stares at her for the longest moment, but when he finally does reply, he says, "Five."

Delores is thrown. "Like...the number?"

"Is there any other?"

"I suppose not..." Delores falters for a moment before smiling blindingly again and asking excitedly, "Do you live here?"

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't." His voice is slightly annoyed, as though he thinks she's asking too many questions. She doesn't care.

She gapes. "It's a huge house! It must be so nice to live here!"

"It's acceptable." Five narrows his eyes and returns to his original inquiry, "Why are you here?"

"My daddy is with Mr. Hargreeves right now. For an interview."

Five's eyebrows draw together in puzzlement. "An interview. With my father?"

She nods. "Uh-huh. He's been looking for another job for a while now, so I hope he gets this one!"

"I see." From the expression on his face, he still looks skeptical but he doesn't press the issue any further.

Delores is pleased that he makes no move to leave her there, it had been getting sort of lonely. She looks around and notes that the large house is quiet and she wonders if he lives here alone with his father.

An idea pops into her head.

Delores stands up suddenly and clasps one of his hands in hers. Five stares down at her likes she's grown two heads, but she doesn't care. It's been so long since she's been able to hang around someone her own age. "Let's be friends!"

"What..."

"I live pretty close to here and I have a good feeling about my daddy getting this job so maybe I can come by more frequently!"

"Uh..."

Before he can agree or deny—she really hopes he'll accept—they're interrupted.

"Delores."

She looks up and straightens happily. "Daddy!"

"Mr. Hargreeves wants to meet you."

"Me?" Delores is confused as to why the rich owner of this house would want to meet _her_.

Her father nods and beckons to her. "Come along now."

"Okay!" She drops Five's hand, not before giving it a little shake again, and smiles widely. "It was nice meeting you!"

She hurries after her father.

"...Likewise."

**※**

She's ten when she first shows Five what she can do.

"Can I show you something, Five?"

He looks up from the cards spread out between them. They're both sitting cross-legged on his bed and Delores leans in, whispering conspiratorially, "Daddy says I should never show anyone besides him and Mr. Hargreeves, but there's no point in keeping it from you. Especially since you're my best friend!"

Five lowers his cards and shrugs, clearly not expecting much from her. "Sure, go ahead I guess."

Delores pouts. She'll show him.

She clambers off his bed and smoothes down her skirt before straightening and facing her friend, who watches her expectantly. Her eyebrows furrow in concentration and she screws up her face, preparing to use her power.

Five's eyebrows arch in surprise when she spins on her foot and her features twist up, morphing into something entirely different.

She turns to face him and now Five is looking at a mirror image of himself, albeit a much happier one. She lifts her arms and exclaims proudly, "Look!"

He doesn't speak for a long while, and Delores is a little proud of herself for rendering him speechless. It's usually the other way around, with his sarcastic comments and vast knowledge of all things in the world, really.

And then Five sets his cards down, and his voice is unusually calm, as though he's trying a little too hard to hide something. "When were you born?"

Delores is surprised that he asks that as the first question, especially after what she had just shown him. Although, since he and his siblings were extraordinarily gifted with special abilities, maybe it makes sense that he isn't particularly shocked. She turns on her foot again and transforms back into herself.

"October 1st, 1989. Why?"

Five opens his mouth and Delores swears that he's about to reveal some massive secret but instead, he just shakes his head. "No reason. That's my birthday too."

Her lips open and form the shape of a small 'o'. "That's so amazing! What a coincidence!"

Five doesn't look too impressed about it, but Delores is far too used to his unusually mature and sarcastic personality to wonder any further. Sometimes though, she'll look at her friend and can't help but be a little sad because she always gets the feeling that he had been forced to grow up a little too quickly. She gets the same feeling sometimes when she runs into his siblings. It's a strange family, but she doesn't mind. She quite likes hanging out with them. Especially Five.

And then something dark flashes over Five's face and she's taken aback for a moment, but it disappears in the next second so she must have been seeing things. "My father knows about what you can do?"

Delores climbs back onto the bed and nods. "Uh-huh! He's also been teaching me, sorta."

He frowns. "I see."

"Are you..." Delores tugs nervously on her ponytail. "You're not...mad at me, are you?"

Five looks surprised at her question. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"For...for using your appearance?" She's hesitant. She's never shown anyone else before, and she really hopes she won't ruin her friendship with Five over this. Her father had warned her about the dangers of people finding out about what she can do. Maybe she should have chosen to turn into someone else. But then he speaks and her fears dissolve.

"No." He shakes his head and smirks at her. "It's pretty cool, Delores."

She beams.

"Not as cool as what I can do though."

"Hey!"

**※**

She's eleven when she gets her first ever birthday present from someone who's not her mother or father.

Five hands her the box without any pomp or circumstance and simply sits next to her, waiting.

"For me?" asks Delores eagerly.

He nods.

Delores tears open the large box impatiently, tossing the wrapping paper off to the side where it falls on the floor of Five's room. She gasps, overjoyed. Sitting in the box is the most beautiful sequin backpack she's ever seen. It's white with blue and pink shades glittering when she rotates the bag from side to side. Her mouth falls open. It's _too_ pretty. And it looks quite expensive. She can't accept this. It's just too much. Delores shakes her head and starts to push it back towards Five, but stops when she sees the expression on his face, as if just daring her to _try_ and refuse his gift.

She reluctantly takes it back.

"How did you know I wanted a new one?" Delores asks, fingers running over the backpack adoringly.

He shoots her a look that she's all too familiar with. It's the one she always gets when he thinks she's asked a stupid question.

"You've outgrown your previous one." Five leans down and plucks her old backpack off the ground, shaking it in her face. "Look at how many sequin disks are missing. I don't think it even sparkles anymore. This is certainly not a bag fit for an annoyingly happy and talkative girl like you. It looks like someone drowned this bag and threw it into some dust and mud."

Delores ignores his snide remark and throws her present on the bed before wrapping her arms around Five out of affection. Even though he doesn't show it often and most people probably wouldn't describe him as such, she thinks that he's one of the kindest and most thoughtful people she knows. She leans in and gives him a great big kiss on his cheek. She doesn't pay attention to his shell-shocked expression or the way he lifts his hand briefly to touch his cheek, she's too absorbed with her gift.

"I love it! Thank you." Delores releases Five from her clutches and suddenly claps her hands to her cheeks. "Oh! I nearly forgot."

She snatches her old backpack and rummages around in it, pulling out a small package. It's wrapped messily with wrapping paper, but she had tried. It's _hard_ to wrap a present. Delores hands it to him. "For you. Happy birthday!"

Five peels off the paper and holds up his gift to look at. It's a charcoal drawing she had made of him, settled nicely in a wooden frame. The idea had come to her a while ago. They had been in the courtyard a few weeks back, practicing their abilities, and Delores had glanced over at Five to see him staring off in the distance. He had looked so regal and proud, chin tilted upwards, and she just hadn't been able to help herself, her little artist's fingers twitching keenly.

"I didn't really have money to buy something I thought you would have liked," Delores says anxiously, picking at her fingernails. "But I put in more time into this and I hope you like it."

Five gazes at the picture intensely, eyes tracing over every detail. And then there's just a brief pause pause before his lips turn up in a smile. "I like it. It's _really_ good. Thank you."

His smile widens and Delores is ecstatic. She had found out long ago that it takes a lot to make him _truly_ smile, and it's so different from his usual smirks and false grins and she _really_ likes it. She thinks he has the most beautiful smile she's ever seen.

**※**

She's twelve when she sees a movie in an actual movie theater for the first time.

Delores looks around nervously, wondering where Five is. She's never sneaked out of her house before, and she hopes dearly that her father won't find out. She doesn't want to worry him. He has too many gray hairs as it is.

"Here."

She jumps. Five is standing beside her, holding two tickets up in the air. "I got us tickets."

Delores gapes and asks incredulously, "Did you..._steal_ those?"

Five shrugs, unbothered. "The ticket office was unattended. Their own folly."

She purses her lips, but doesn't argue.

They head into the theater, Delores bouncing excitedly on her toes while Five strides alongside her, one hand shoved in his pants pocket. It's one of the few times she's ever seen him out of uniform, but she thinks it makes him seem younger and happier.

They find and head into the auditorium that has the title of the movie emblazoned boldly on a sign: _The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring_. Five had been talking non-stop about this movie for a while now and even though she had kind of wanted to go see a new cartoon movie that had just been released, Delores found it hard to deny him anything, especially when he talked about it so intensely while pacing back and forth in his room.

They settle into their seats without issue, and Delores's fears about getting caught for not paying for the tickets quickly dissipate.

It's nice, she realizes, watching a movie with a friend. Five occasionally leans over to whisper criticisms about specific scenes and she has to struggle to keep from giggling. It takes a while for her to register that he starts to do it just to try and make her laugh and Delores pinches his arm when she realizes this.

The movie goes on until she grows more and more fearful, wrinkling her nose and slouching down in her seat, nearly lifting her hands to cover her eyes. Five notices and turns his head. "What's wrong?"

"He's _scary_."

Five laughs, though it's more of an amused snort, and someone a few rows in front of them shushes him angrily. He rolls his eyes. "Gollum's not real, you know. What you're seeing is nearly all just computer graphics."

Delores glares at him. "I _know_, but he's still _weird_ and kinda gross..."

He's still looking at her funny, with one eyebrow raised and a smirk playing around the corners of his lips.

She pouts and contemplates simply escaping to the bathroom.

And then something warm covers her hand and Delores glances down in surprise to see Five's larger hand over hers. She opens her mouth, unsure of what to say, but closes it again when she looks up at his face. He's still facing forward and watching the movie, but his lips are curved up in one of his rare smiles. The light from the screen casts an incandescent glow across his features.

Delores bites her lip.

She flips her hand over so her palm is facing up and pressing against his. She feels Five stiffen next to her, likely mistaking her motion for dismissal, but before he can withdraw, she laces her fingers through his tightly. And it's then that she realizes that she's no longer scared.

There's a brief moment of stillness before his fingers curl down, brushing over her knuckles.

Delores's heart thumps unevenly.

**※**

She's thirteen when Five disappears.


	2. Part II

**Part II**

He's fifty-eight years old when he comes back...in a child's body.

Five looks down at himself and then back up at his siblings, who all seem to be taller than him now.

_Shit_.

* * *

She's the first thing he asks about. How can he not?

Because he's finally _back_, in a time where she's still _alive_, in a time where he can see her again, can hear her voice, can _be_ with her again.

_"Let's be friends!"_

"Delores." He looks around, not even bothering to hide his impatience. "Is she here?"

His siblings glance at each other, solemn looks crossing their faces. Clearly, they had expected him to know something they did.

It's Allison who speaks up.

"Five..." she says softly. "Delores left. A _long_ time ago."

His blood runs cold and he clenches his jaw, barely restraining himself from lashing out at someone.

_No_.

He hadn't come all the way back just to get only _part_ of his life back.

Five curls his fingers around the handle of his coffee mug so hard his knuckles turn white. "What do you mean, she _left_?"

His siblings throw cautious looks at each other again, as if daring each other to speak first. Klaus, being impossibly high, is the only one who has the courage to break the news to him. Klaus spreads his legs on the table he's sitting on, skirt moving as he did so, giving Five an eyeful of his brother's goods. _Mother of shit. _Five grimaces. That's not a sight he ever wants to see again.

"She _means_ that after you disappeared, your little girlfriend cried for days," sighs Klaus. "And then her father died not long after, and she didn't really have any reason to hang around us anymore."

Five stares down hard at his distorted reflection in the black coffee sitting in his mug. _She had cried?_

"We tried tracking her down a few times." Luther explains. "She was our friend too, after all. But we couldn't find any trace of her. We think maybe she left the city."

Five slams his hand down suddenly on the table, irked by Number One's audacity. "_You_ don't get to say that. That she was your _friend_. How _dare..."_

_You didn't know her._

None of them did. They didn't know what her favorite color had been, her favorite music, her favorite dessert. They didn't know what had made her laugh and what had made her sad. They didn't know how much he had—

He releases a controlled breath through his teeth. "Doesn't matter. I'll find her."

"Five...that might not be a good idea. It's been almost twenty years for us. For her too." Allison's expression is sympathetic and she reaches out a hand, as if she could possibly offer him comfort. "It's most likely that she's moved on by now."

Five steps back, a scowl forming on his face. He doesn't want her sympathy. He doesn't want any of their sympathy. He had spent so many years in that world. So many long, _lonely_ years. In a broken and desolate world, hoping and waiting for the time when he could finally return. If not for Delores, for the memories of her happiness, her companionship...if he hadn't pretended that she was there with him, he would have lost his damn mind a long time ago.

He turns away and leaves, ignoring his siblings calling after him.

Five closes the bedroom door behind him and leans against it, sliding down slowly and hitting the ground softly with a thump.

_"It's a huge house! It must be so nice to live here!"_

He lifts his head to stare mindlessly at his bed. It's still all made up, a thin layer of dust covering the sheets.

_They sat on his bed, leaned against the wall with their shoulders touching and legs sprawled out in front of them._

_Delores was drawing happily on her sketchpad, wiggling her toes absentmindedly. Five lowered the book that he'd stopped reading a while ago and stared off into the distance._

_"I want to try time travel."_

_She looked up in surprise at his sudden statement, her lips parting. "Time travel?"_

_"Yeah. My father thinks I can't do it. But how hard could it be?" Five crossed his legs. "I've pretty much mastered teleportation."_

_Delores flipped her sketchpad closed and turned so she was giving him her full attention. "Well, **I** think you can do it. You can do anything, Five. As long as you put your mind to it! You're the smartest person I know!"_

_She poked him to emphasize her point and Five couldn't help the pleased smile that broke out onto his face._

He presses the heels of his hands to his eyes, trying to make the unwanted memory go away.

_"You can do anything, Five."_

Her faith had been misplaced. He'd damn well fucked it all up, hadn't he?

Five drops his elbows down onto his knees and lets his hands fall, dangling over the ground helplessly.

He wants nothing more than to drop everything and go find her. Screw what his siblings said. Of course they hadn't been able to track her down. They probably hadn't tried hard enough.

Unwanted questions arise.

Would she be angry if he showed up in her life again?

Did she even _remember_ him anymore?

Five clenches his fists, pushing the ugly thoughts away. He wants her back, _needs _her back.

But he remembers his mission. If he fails at this, it doesn't matter if he finds her. It won't matter because she will be dead. Everyone will be. And he can't have that.

No, he can't find Delores just yet. But he can easily find the next best thing.

* * *

Griddy's Doughnuts.

It had been one of the few places he and his siblings had been free from their father's clutches, at least for a short while.

Five splays a hand on the countertop, memories flashing through his head and a small smile passes over his lips. But as he looks around, he muses, "Don't remember this place being such a shithole. I used to come here as a kid. Used to sneak out with my siblings to meet Delores here and eat doughnuts till we puked."

Five casts a glance at the man beside him. "Simpler times, huh?"

"Uh...I suppose." Five is quietly amused by the utter confusion in the man's voice.

The waitress comes back with his coffee and the other man's order. Five sips at his drink quietly, still immersed in the nostalgia that this place stokes in him.

It's been..._so_ long.

His gaze falls on one of the booths in the corner of the shop, a booth that is all too familiar to him.

_"Five!" She reached over for the doughnut but his arms were longer and he successfully kept it out of her grasping fingers. "That's mine!"_

_"You were too slow." He taunted, making a big show of shoving it whole into his mouth._

_Klaus, Diego, and Vanya laughed from across the table, the three of them squeezed into the small space happily._

_She pouted in disappointment but brightened up again when Ben shyly offered her his pudding._

_"Oh, thank you!" She turned to beam at Ben, who was sitting on her other side._

_Five wasn't sure why he felt a little annoyed by that._

_"You'll get fat from eating all that." He said lazily, twirling a fork in one hand._

_She flushed and glared at him, though it was without malice. Five smirked at the desired reaction he elicited from her, taking in the pretty pink blush staining her cheeks._

_"Shut up, stupid!"_

_She flicked her spoon at him and globs of the pudding flew onto his face. Delores gaped and there was a moment of absolute silence before Five turned his head slowly, dangerously slowly, towards her. But there was nowhere for her to run, since she was sandwiched between him and Ben, so she shrank against Ben, who blushed._

_"You..." Five's jaw ticked and he lifted a hand to wipe the mango pudding off his face._

_That must have been the last straw because peals of laughter escaped Delores and it was followed by sniggers from his siblings._

_And then a wicked smile crossed his face and Delores stopped laughing, finally seeming to grasp the gravity of the situation. "Wait...no..."_

_Five dove at her, fingers attacking her side and she shrieked, giggling while her hands pushing at him uselessly. "Five, no! I'm sorry!"_

_She tried to escape by tunneling through the small space between him and the table, but his training kicked in and he caught her around the waist, holding her in place. Delores was wriggling like an oversized worm, but he leaned in close anyway to her ear. "Do you yield?"_

_She was red in the face and laughing hard and Five was infinitely proud that he was the cause of it._

_"I give up, I give up! You win!"_

_Five grinned triumphantly._

* * *

"You named it Delores."

Five rubs his head, mildly regretting drinking what felt like an entire liquor store. This body is shit at handling copious amounts of alcohol. Despite his dazed state, he makes a quick assessment of the unfamiliar surroundings. This must be Diego's place of residence. "So?"

Luther tears his gaze away from the top half of the mannequin and meets Five's gaze. "You really missed her."

He shoots Luther a look of utter disdain. "Nothing gets past you now does it, muscle boy?"

_"Don't be so mean, Five."_

"I'm not—" He stops talking when he realizes that Luther is looking at him strangely and Five swallows, looking away awkwardly from the mannequin.

His brother isn't phased by his initial hostility and presses on. "What were you doing in the library?"

Five doesn't answer his question. He doesn't want to admit that his resolve had cracked and in a moment of weakness, during a break from his equations and research, he'd been selfish and had _looked_ for her. When his search had turned up empty though...well, the headache he's sporting right now is proof of it. He doesn't want to face the fact that there's a _chance_ that he might actually be unable to find her, that she's far away, that she's _gone_.

"Five. What happened?" Luther's voice has softened, and he's now looking at him with blatant concern.

There's a long pause before Five speaks again.

"The world was on fire." He says hoarsely, staring at the mannequin, the only thing that still gives him comfort. "The world was burning and you were all dead and _she_ was gone."

* * *

He stares forlornly at the small and shabby house, a house from a _lifetime_ ago.

It had been a foolish idea, to come here. Of course she's not here anymore. The family that gets out of the van in the driveway is a testament to that. But there had been some part of him, some irrational, ludicrous part of him that had thought...maybe, just _maybe._ Plus, it's on the way to Hazel and Cha Cha so he just hadn't been able to resist.

He still remembers the last time he had visited this place.

It had also been the last time he ever saw her again.

_Their hands were joined as they walked down the street, the streetlights illuminating their path. H__er hand was so warm and it fit so perfectly in his and it just felt so...right._

_They were still trying to get used to this, to these newfound feelings, the fluttering in their chests when they saw each other._

_They reached her house all too soon and Five let go of her hand reluctantly. "Well, good night, I suppose. I'll see you tomorrow."_

_Delores was much less stiff and awkward than he was and she smiled widely as she leaned toward him, her lips brushing against his so innocently and quickly even he had no time to react._

_She blushed and was bounding away and up the steps to her house before Five remembered to breathe._

_"Good night, Five!"_

_And then she was gone and he was standing alone outside, fingers ghosting along his lips as if it would somehow replay the moment._

_He smiled._

_She never stopped surprising him._

"Five."

"_Five._"

Luther's voice brings him out of the past and Five looks at his brother who is squeezed uncomfortably in the driver's seat of the car that's too small for him.

"What are we doing here? Is this some sort of secret weapon we can use against them?"

Secret weapon. Christ, the man certainly has some fanciful ideas.

Five doesn't answer him and instead glances back at the house, tracing an index finger along his lips.

"No...I was mistaken. Let's go."

* * *

Five watches the Commission burn to the ground.

Vanya Hargreeves.

Seeing his sister's name in the Apocalypse file had certainly been unexpected and difficult to come to terms with, but he'd managed.

He has to give the Handler credit. She's a tricky bit of business. Using Delores as a bargaining chip...it had been impossibly enticing, but he is smarter than she thinks he is. He's figured it all out.

_"I told you so. You can do anything you put your mind to, Five."_

He glances down at the briefcase in his hand. Temptation eats at him. It would be so easy to just...press rewind, to go back to how things were before.

Five curses himself for even entertaining the mere thought of it. He still has things to do.

He needs to fix things. He needs to get back and help Vanya, change everything that has gone wrong with his family.

He can't be selfish just yet.

_Wait for me a little longer, Delores._

Five opens his briefcase and closes his eyes as he's drowned in the blue light.

* * *

He taps the woman on her shoulder.

"Excuse me, Miss? Could you give that mannequin something new to wear?"

Five glances back at Delores, a sad but fond smile flickering on his lips.

_It's been a good run, old girl._

"She likes sequins."

* * *

It all breaks loose inside him days later, the grief.

It makes no sense. He's achieved his goal. The apocalypse would not come to pass. He should be happy, _proud_ even.

But the pain inside him has been festering for _years, _growing and _gnawing_ at his mind and he's finally reached his breaking point.

Because he still can't _find_ her. And there's a piece of him, of his entirely messed up and old _soul_, that is still lost and he's scared...he's _scared_ that he may never find it again.

The agony is too much for him to bear.

Five barricades himself in his room and slams his fists down on his desk again and again. He doesn't care that it hurts, that bruises form and splinters wedge in the side of his hand.

He lets out a soundless scream, and his heart _aches_.

It aches for the siblings he hadn't been able to grow up with, for the one sibling he hadn't been able to save.

It aches for losing her so early, before he'd even had the opportunity to tell her he loved her.

It aches for the life he never had the chance to live.

* * *

"Five."

He looks up to see Klaus standing before him.

"What do you want?"

Klaus sighs, sitting down next to him on the couch and crossing his legs with a flourish. "Is that any way to speak to someone who has good news?"

Five rolls his eyes. He doesn't have time for his brother's dramatics today. He returns his attention back to his notebook, turning a page even though he knows there's no use in going over the equations over and over again. It won't magically bring Delores back to him.

"Delores isn't a common name, which made my job easier."

Five's head snaps up.

Klaus rambles on, "I did find a stripper named Delores and I thought, damn, what a lucky bastard Five is, but turns out that was a dead end. Wasn't even her real name. Who chooses Delores as a stripper name? There are so many better ones...take Sugar Tits for example..._and__—"_

Five slams his book shut, somewhat amazed that Klaus has somehow taken the subject of Delores and has made it about _strippers_. The man's brain is truly a piece of work. "Are you going somewhere with this, Klaus?"

His brother pauses in making his top ten stripper name list, looking mildly annoyed that he'd been interrupted. Klaus slouches in his seat and begins to pick at his nails nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I found her."

The world comes screeching to a halt and Five stares unblinkingly at Klaus, scrutinizing his brother's expression for any sign of dishonesty. He finds none. Surely...surely it's a prank? A cruel joke that Klaus had somehow deemed fit to play on him? But...why?

And then horror runs through him.

Is she...she isn't...he doesn't even dare go there, because he doesn't know if he will be able to handle it.

But Klaus sees the expression on his face and shakes his head. "She's not dead."

The relief that fills him is so strong he nearly cries.

And then his brother is pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket with two fingers and waving it at him. Five wastes no time in snatching it out of his hand and staring down at it, memorizing every detail. It's a postcard with a painting on it, the type of postcard you get in a museum gift shop. On the back, scrawled in Klaus's loopy handwriting, is an address. He reads it over and over again until it's seared into his mind.

"She's an artist. A reclusive one, but she's talented. I hear some of her paintings were sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars." Klaus's voice is wistful and longing. "Imagine what that could buy..."

"How?"

He has no need to elaborate on the question and Klaus seems to understand too.

"The ghosties." Klaus wiggles his fingers in the air vaguely. "Did some things for them in return for this favor. You _know_, they're surprisingly good at the whole gossip and rumor mill thing. It didn't take them as long as I thought I would."

Five still doesn't understand. "Why did you do it?"

"I know how it feels to lose someone." Klaus says, resting his head on the back of the couch and he's right there but he sounds like he's so far away. "I'm not sure about the others, but I wasn't blind. She adored you, Five. You don't just forget about someone like that. And it looks like she never completely moved on from you." He waves a hand dismissively in Five's direction. "And I know for a fact that you certainly haven't, you sentimental old man."

Five lets out a snort but looks at Klaus fondly. "I suppose you're not completely useless."

Klaus wipes away a fake tear. "Oh, how you flatter me."

Five returns his attention back to the address in front of him, stares at it like it's his lifeline.

"Take a look at her pseudonym." Klaus offers.

"Pseudonym?"

"Yeah, she doesn't use her real name, that's why it was so hard to find her."

Five flips over the postcard.

And his throat closes up. Because now he knows why Klaus had sounded so sure when he'd said Delores hadn't moved on. At the bottom right corner of the painting, in a tiny and neat scrawl, is the artist's signature in blue ink.

_#5_

* * *

Five lowers the postcard Klaus had given him and looks across the street at the nondescript art studio nestled between a coffee shop and boutique. He crosses the street to the coffee shop and takes a seat in the outdoors seating area. And waits.

For every second that passes, doubt grows in his mind until he's a heartbeat away from leaving.

He's done month-long stakeouts before, hidden in bushes, cramped cars, and yet nothing compares to this moment.

The anticipation is killing him.

And then the door to the art studio opens and a figure exits the building. Five straightens in his chair and his heart jumps into his throat. He feels like a young boy again, like how he had felt the first time he'd held her hand, when she'd first kissed him.

The woman shuts the door behind her, balancing a large box and folder as she struggles to lock the door with the other hand.

His lips part slightly as he _stares._

She's certainly grown up.

All his imagination during those years, the thoughts of what she sounded like, what she had grown up to look like, they all fade away into nothing.

She's wearing a thick-rimmed glasses and a paint-splattered hoodie and her hair is done up messily in a bun.

_She's breathtaking._

"Oh!" Delores gasps, laughing awkwardly when she bumps into a passerby. Five lets out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. _How I've missed her laugh._ "I'm so sorry!"

He smiles unconsciously. She'd always been rather clumsy. It's nice to see that some things haven't changed.

He lowers his gaze when she begins walking towards him and an uncharacteristic anxiety surges through him, keeping him rooted in his seat.

She passes by him without a single glance and he's not sure what to feel. Relief? Disappointment?

But then he hears a sharp intake of breath and the sound of papers fluttering to the ground.

Her whisper is broken and disbelieving and _pained_, and the guilt that surges through him is unreal.

"...Five?"

* * *

"I thought...I never stopped thinking that maybe someday you would come back."

Five turns his head to look at her as they walk slowly through the park. Her fingers brush against the back of his hand and he resists the urge to grab hers, grab it and never let go.

"You're too smart not to have figured it out."

He smiles faintly, remembering her similar words from all those years ago.

Surprisingly, they don't speak about much else after that. There's so much he wants to say that nothing comes to mind. It must be the same for her because ever so often, her head turns toward him but then she stops and looks away again.

An elderly woman passing by the two smiles widely at Delores. "My dear, you have such a handsome son. You must be so proud."

Upon seeing the flabbergasted expression on Delores's face, the woman gasps apologetically. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Not your son? Your younger brother then?"

A strange rush of embarrassment and anger rushes through Five and he declares flatly, "If it were not for the fact that _she_ would likely disapprove, I would reach into your throat and remove your vocal cords with my bare hands so no one will ever have to hear your drivel again."

The look of horror that replaces the woman's expression gives him a spark of joy.

When the woman practically flees and he looks back at Delores, sure enough, he sees a mixture of exasperation and amusement on her face. "That's a bit extreme."

"She deserved it."

Delores just shakes her head knowingly and takes a seat on a park bench. Five remains standing, because at least then he can pretend he's taller than her.

They're quiet for a while, the only sounds being the peaceful whistling of wind and the rustle of tree leaves behind them.

And then Delores speaks.

"I was so..._angry_ with you." Her smile is shaky and he immediately hates himself for being the cause of it. "For leaving. For leaving me all alone."

Five unfolds his arms and reaches out a hand to touch the side of her face. A couple walking past gives them a funny look, but he ignores them. For the first time, he can't find the right words and all he can say is, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Delores leans into his touch and he loses himself in her eyes. The same, kind eyes that he'd been so drawn to when they had first met.

"You gave me all of my firsts, you know." She says softly. "My first friend, my first dessert buddy, my first sleepover..."

She trails off and places her larger hand over his, keeping it pressed to her cheek, a hint of desperation in her eyes and in the way with which she holds his hand. "You were my first love."

He looks down. _And you were mine. You were my first and only._

But then the old woman's words from a short while ago come back to haunt him and he deflates a little, remembering that he's fifty-eight but he looks thirteen. Remembers that she's nearly thirty, that she's all grown up now.

"I admit..." Five lowers his hand and looks away. "I don't know how this is going to work, Delores. I don't...I messed up on a scale of massive proportions, playing with time."

"I've never heard you sound anything less than sure about yourself, Five."

Her voice is different. Higher now, and younger.

Five's head snaps up.

And he finds himself looking at Delores, but she's not her age anymore, features smooth and young, height even shorter than his now.

_She looks exactly like the way he remembers her._

"How did you..." Five stares. "What did you just do?"

She no longer has to stand up and twist on one foot to use her power, screwing up her face in the way she had done in the past, something that he'd secretly found adorable. Instead, Delores simply sits there, her legs crossed primly as her features morph again. In a matter of seconds, Five sees her in her late teens and then in her twenties. It's _surreal_, and Five can't help but let his imagination run wild. Flashes come to him—_moments_—of a life that he could have had with her.

And then she's back to normal and Five is still in a state of shock as she explains, "Your father had a theory a long time ago. Turns out he was right about it."

"...What theory?"

"The way I can change...it's because I can manipulate my own cells, the very genomic sequence that defines who I am. I can make myself younger, older..." Delores takes a deep breath and gazes at him expectantly.

It takes him an embarrassingly long moment to grasp the implications of Delores's statement.

Is she...could she really...

And then she's a young girl again, standing up and grasping one of his hands like the way she had done _so_ long ago. "I can go back. To the way I was before you left. _We_ can go back."

His first instinct is to say _yes. _He wants desperately to agree. He would do anything to do everything over again. He wants to make up for all the moments they had missed together. He wants to give her all the firsts in the _world _again.

But something stops him and Five recoils when a petrifying realization runs through him.

_She never moved on._

She had never moved on and it's _his_ fault. For not thinking about the consequences, of his father's warnings of jumping through time.

And as much as he wants to be selfish and say yes, yes, _god_ yes, he can't _do_ that to her, can't ask her to do that for him.

She has something here, a life without him.

"We can't go back."

Everything is suddenly so _cold _and she's here and there are other people passing by and yet he's never felt so _alone_.

"Five..."

"It was wrong of me to come here."

He can't even think straight anymore, everything's coming at him all at once, churning restlessly in his mind.

He doesn't look at her because he knows that if he does, he'll likely give in all too easily. "I...I ruined your life, Delores. You could have had a normal life but...but you...you didn't. That's on me."

"_Five_..."

"I can't...I can't do this, Delores." His voice cracks and he takes a step back. "You're better off without me."

"Five, _wait_!"

It's a whisper and he almost misses it when he disappears but Five still hears it and it tears at what's left of his broken heart.

"_Please_ don't leave."

* * *

Against his better judgement, Five finds himself standing outside a liquor store that night, staring miserably up at the neon sign flickering beckoningly at him.

Time to drink up.

* * *

Five teleports into the house, not even bothering to spend the short time it would take to open the front door. He winces as he stumbles on his landing. It's been a week since seeing Delores, and the pain of missing her and the booze he's consumed to dull it has taken an obvious toll on his powers. _Whatever._

He frowns when he hears a low murmur coming from the living room and follows the sound of it.

Five finds his siblings gathered in the room. Luther, Allison, and Vanya are squeezed on the couch and Diego is standing. Klaus, as usual, is sprawled out on the coffee table.

A family meeting? Without him?

They all look up at him when he enters, smiles slipping from their faces.

"What..."

His voice trails off when someone, not one of his siblings, stands up from the armchair facing away from him. Five's mouth goes dry.

Gone is the paint-splattered hoodie. Instead, she's wearing a grey peacoat over black leggings, and her hair is swept over one shoulder, no longer in its ponytail. She looks nervous, wringing her hands and shifting slightly from foot to foot.

"Delores."

She offers a smile, one that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Hello, Five."

"We'll uh..." Luther stands and the others follow his lead. "We'll give you some privacy. It was so nice catching up with you again, Delores. We've all missed you."

She nods and Five notices her reach out a hand to touch Vanya's arm as they head out of the room. Aside from him, Vanya had probably been Delores's next closest friend. _She always had a way with the __misfits,_ Five thinks. _The ones who weren't quite normal, even in this family._

"Stop running, you pussy." Klaus mutters out of the corner if his mouth as he passes by. Five's lips twist up in a scowl, but the words hit their mark.

And then his siblings are gone and it's just the two of them.

"I hear you named a mannequin after me." A smile passes over Delores's face.

Five immediately makes a reminder to disembowl Diego when he gets the chance.

"Delo...the mannequin was just a way to cope." He replies.

"You spent all that time...alone." Delores says, shaking her head. "I can't even imagine what..."

"I wasn't alone." Five blurts out, and confusion passes over her face. He tries again, speaking slower this time. "You...you were there. Your friendship, the memories...you gave me. They helped."

Her expression melts and her voice is a little unsteady as she breathes, "I'm glad."

Delores lifts a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

_God, she's beautiful._

"You were wrong."

"...What?"

Delores steps closer to him and one of her arms twitches, as though to reach out to him but at the last minute she changes her mind and it lowers. "I'm not better off without you. _God, _Five...I..."

"How?" Five breathes, shaking his head. "How are you not? Why didn't you move _on_?"

"I lost my mother, my father, and _you_ all in a span of a couple years. That's...that's not something you walk away from unscathed." Delores laughs breathily. It's not a happy laugh. "Nothing was quite right with my life after that, with any of my relationships."

"Delores..."

"No, listen to me." Her voice is strong and unwavering now. "You _never_ ruined my life. Five, you were one of the _best_ parts. I loved you. I _still_ do. "

He takes a shaky breath.

She isn't lying.

Delores moves until she's standing right in front of him, so close that he can so easily pull her into an embrace. "It wasn't fair of me to spring that on you. It was...it was stupid. And...you're right...we can't go back to the way we were all those years ago. You've changed, and so have I. We are not the same people we used to be."

Five doesn't speak, only looks at her, his forehead creased in doubt as her soft voice makes his resolve slowly begin to crumble.

"The only way is to move forward. And I know you don't quite know me anymore, but I would really like for you to be in my life again." There's a heartbeat of silence before Delores asks, voice vulnerable and unsure, "Will you...let me be in yours?"

_Yes._

And then he realizes with absolute certainty and he can't believe he ever doubted it even for a second.

_A life without her is not a life worth living._

_Maybe..._

"If you'll have me..." Five swallows. "I would like to get to know you again."

_Just_ _maybe..._

"I know you don't owe me anything, after what I've done. But please just...wait for me a little while longer."

_Maybe_ _he can finally allow himself to be __selfish_.

"I still have some growing up to do, after all."

Her only answer is to lift her hands to his face, cupping it as she smiles ever so gently at him. He doesn't care that he has to tilt his head up just the slightest bit to look into her eyes.

And then Five realizes that he can no longer hear that voice in his head, a voice that had at one point kept him grounded. Because now it's really her, she's here, it's _her_ voice, and she's _real_.

"I waited twenty years for you. I can wait a little longer."

* * *

He's fifty-eight years old when he comes back in a child's body.

And he hates every second of it.

He hates that he will have to grow up _again, _that he's the oldest out of all his siblings but will be treated like the youngest.

But if it means that he can stay with _her_, grow old with her...Five will _gladly_ take it. Without hesitation.


	3. Bonus

**Bonus**

Reginald Hargreeves did not have friends. In fact, he considered them to be weaknesses. Distractions.

In Reginald's eyes, there was no point for such trivial relationships that rarely amounted to anything substantial. Not to mention, it was an effective safeguard for his vast wealth, something that many were all too eager to seize through false niceties. The closest that he could possibly consider as companions were Grace and Pogo but even then, there were clear boundaries. He did not care to show any affection towards his children either, and however disappointed they always were after failing to seek it, he considered it to be necessary.

Speaking of the children...

"What do you want with Delores?"

He was sorely tempted to simply ignore the impertinent question, just one of many that Number Five had asked over the years, but the amount of anger and...fierce protectiveness in the young boy's voice surprised even him.

Reginald set down his pen and turned in the swivel chair, looking at Number Five calmly over his monocle. The boy had nerve, he had to give him that. Not many of his children would dare interrupt him during his research in the surveillance room.

The boy stood in the doorway and stared right back, a hard look in his eyes. Reginald was almost amused. He arched an eyebrow. Number Five was perhaps the most mature of his children, and yet oddly enough, he could also be so blindly naïve at times.

Seeing that Reginald was no closer to divulging the information he wanted, the boy tried a different approach.

"You will not turn her into one of us." It wasn't a request. The amount of force in the boy's voice made it clear that he was _commanding _it. Reginald was quietly amused. _What a fiery little brat._

He contemplated just letting the boy stew in silence but decided otherwise.

"She's far too old to undergo the process you and your siblings underwent." Reginald noted the way Number Five's shoulders slumped in poorly concealed relief. "I am merely studying her blood."

Five's brows furrowed in confusion. "Her blood?"

"Indeed." Reginald leaned back and steepled his fingers. "So much can be unlocked from the potential medicinal properties of her blood. Think about it...the girl can alter the fundamental biology of her body-"

"Her _name_ is Delores."

Reginald fell silent at that and gave Number Five an appraising look. The boy himself never seemed to give much notice to his own name. He was the only one out of the seven who had not taken on another name from Grace. Curious that he would pay so much attention to what Reginald called _her._

"There is much to learn from her."

Number Five's stare was prying and distrusting.

And at that particular moment, Reginald couldn't help but think that the boy was much like him in many aspects.

It was clear that he would say no more on the matter and so the boy spoke cautiously, as though he knew he was treading on thin ice. Reginald's surprise grew. It was rare of Number Five to show restraint. "Whatever you're doing...just don't hurt her."

Now, Reginald was a stoic man. He had to be. But when the boy uttered those words, he felt just the tiniest bit of disappointment. Did the boy think so little of him?

"...Please." Number Five's face was rather pinched, as though he loathed uttering the very word to him.

Reginald turned back around to face his monitors, jotting down a few notes from the one of Number Seven's room. He heard Number Five shift behind him, clearly waiting impatiently for a response.

"She will not be in any danger." He turned the page and continued writing. "You have my word."

A pause. And then Number Five muttered a quiet _thank you_ before Reginald felt a flutter of wind and the boy's presence vanished. He set his pen down again and leaned back, letting out a deep sigh. They were all growing up. Far faster than he had ever anticipated. Sometimes, when left alone with his thoughts, he wondered if all his decisions, the way he had chosen to raise the seven...if they had been the right ones. His jaw tightened and he cursed himself for the doubts. _Impossible_. They had to be correct. He would settle for nothing less of perfection.

Reginald's gaze shifted, rising from Number Seven's monitor to a different one.

There was the girl, Delores, sitting on Number Five's bed, amusing herself with the sketchpad he never saw her without. She bit her lip in concentration, doodling away as she waited.

_Ah, such childish innocence. _

It was a pity he hadn't been able to get his hands on her in the beginning. The girl was rather powerful, after all.

Number Five appeared in his bedroom in a flash of blue light and the girl looked up, a beam replacing the focused look that had been there moments before. Reginald arched an eyebrow. He could never fathom why the girl was always so excited to see Number Five who after all, in Reginald's opinion, was the most unapproachable of his children.

He watched as Number Five smoothly swung himself onto the bed and pushed the sketchpad off the girl's lap, replacing it with his head as he laid down on his back. The girl looked irritated at first, but then Reginald watched with no small amount of interest as a fond smile replaced the expression. She tangled her hands in the boy's hair, stroking the top of his head again and again until his eyes closed.

Reginald swore that he saw a flicker of a smile dance on Number Five's lips before it vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.

Reginald leaned back in his seat. All seven of his children had extraordinary abilities, abilities that most could not even conjure up in their wildest imaginations. And yet, in all his travels and experiences, it was this little pairing that was perhaps the strangest to him.

Reginald rose from his seat and began to walk towards the exit, turning to cast one last glance at the monitor displaying Number Five's room.

No, Reginald Hargreeves did not have friends. They were useless to him. But he could not help but feel a strange...relief at the normalcy the girl seemed to offer Number Five.

_Good_.

Reginald switched off the light to the room and turned away, clasping his hands behind his back as he began to put distance between him and the lingering doubts and thoughts.

_He will need her._


End file.
